Collective Worship
Everyone to Thrive
Collective Worship at Temple Guiting Church of England School
Collective worship is an important part of life at Temple Guiting Church of England School. It is a time when we come together as a whole community to pause, encounter, explore, reflect, respond and thrive.
Our vision, Everyone to Thrive, is rooted in the words of Jesus:
“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
John 10:10
We believe that Jesus calls us to a life that is full, purposeful and rooted in love. At Temple Guiting, we want everyone children, adults and our whole school community - to have opportunities to grow, flourish and thrive in every aspect of their lives, including spiritually.
Collective worship is one of the ways in which we nurture this growth. Through worship, we make space to be still, to wonder, to encounter God, to explore faith and life's big questions, and to reflect on how we might live well with ourselves, one another and the world around us.
Worship is therefore not simply something we do or attend. It is an opportunity to grow our spirit, deepen our understanding, develop our sense of meaning and purpose, and consider what it means to live life in all its fullness.
Values in Worship
Our seven Christian values - Respect, Courage, Trust, Forgiveness, Perseverance and Friendship and Love help us to explore different ways in which love can be expressed in everyday life.
Through worship, we explore these values not simply as words to remember, but as ways of putting love into action.
We encourage children and adults to consider:
What does this mean for me?
What might this mean for the way I treat others?
How might I put this into action?
Love is our overarching value and sits at the heart of our vision and our Christian character.
Our understanding of love is particularly rooted in 1 Corinthians 13, which describes love as patient and kind; as something that does not envy, boast or dishonour others; and as something that protects, trusts, hopes and perseveres.
These words provide a powerful model for how we seek to live together as a school community.
We want love to be more than simply a word we use. We want it to be something that is seen, experienced and lived out in our relationships, our choices and our actions.
In this way, our values help us to become a community where everyone can thrive together in love.
Worship throughout our week
Worship is woven into the rhythm of school life and takes place in a variety of settings.
Whole-school worship
We regularly gather together as a whole school community. These times provide opportunities for us to worship collectively, hear God's word, explore our Christian values and learn from one another.
Each whole-school worship follows a familiar rhythm of Welcome, Encounter, Explore, Reflect, Respond, Thrive and Prayer.
We also benefit from the contribution of our Spread the Word Worship Team. This is a team of volunteers who generously come into school each Thursday to lead collective worship with us. Their involvement brings different voices, experiences and perspectives into our worship and strengthens the relationship between our school, our church community and the wider community.
Class worship
Each Wednesday, worship takes place within individual classes.
These smaller, more intimate worship times provide a different opportunity for spiritual growth. Children have greater space to share their thoughts, ask questions, listen to one another, wonder and reflect.
Class worship allows children who may be less confident speaking in a whole-school setting to contribute more freely and gives teachers opportunities to respond to the particular questions and needs of their class.
These times are an important part of our desire for children to develop their own spiritual understanding and to recognise that their thoughts, questions and experiences are valued.
Children record their worship experiences and reflections in their class Spiritual Journey Books. These provide a developing record of the questions children have explored, their responses, moments of reflection and ways in which their understanding and spiritual journey grows over time.
Our worship journey
Each worship follows a familiar rhythm which helps us to move from encountering an idea or experience towards personal reflection, response and growth.
1. Welcome
We begin by creating a sense of welcome, belonging and togetherness. We gather as one school community and prepare ourselves to be present, still and ready to listen.
2. Encounter
We encounter something which invites us to think more deeply. This may be through a Bible story, Christian teaching, music, prayer, an image, a real-life story, drama or an opportunity for stillness.
Through encounter, we create opportunities to encounter God, faith and different ways of understanding the world.
3. Explore
We explore the theme, Bible story or Christian value together.
Children and adults are encouraged to ask questions, share ideas, make connections and consider their own experiences alongside the experiences of others.
4. Reflect
We create space to pause and think.
Children and adults have opportunities to consider what they have heard, what it might mean for them, what they might believe and what they are wondering.
This quiet space is important for spiritual growth. It gives us time to listen not only to others, but also to our own thoughts, feelings and spirit.
5. Respond
Worship invites a response.
This might be through prayer, silence, music, discussion, creativity, an action or a personal commitment.
We recognise that prayer is invitational. Children and adults are invited to pray and to engage with prayer in ways that are meaningful to them, without pressure to participate in a particular way.
6. Flourish
Weconnecting our worship to our vision of Everyone to Thrive.
We consider how what we have encountered and explored might help us to grow as individuals, strengthen our relationships, care for our world and develop spiritually.
We ask ourselves:
How might this help me to thrive?
How might this help someone else to thrive?
How might we thrive together?
Through this journey, worship becomes an opportunity to encounter, think, respond and grow.
7. Prayer
Prayer is an important part of our worship and provides a particular opportunity to pause and connect with God.
Prayer is always invitational. We invite children and adults to pray, to be still, to reflect or simply to listen. We recognise that people will respond in different ways and seek to create a respectful space in which everyone can engage at a level that is comfortable and meaningful for them.
We use a range of prayers, including traditional Christian prayers, prayers written by children and staff, prayers connected to our worship themes, and opportunities for stillness and personal reflection.
Prayer gives us an opportunity to be still, give thanks, say sorry, ask for help, express our hopes and think about the needs of others.
Our school prayer reflects our desire to learn and live together in love:
“Lord, bless our school,
that working together and playing together,
we may learn to love and serve you and one another.
Amen.”
Growing our spirit
We believe that spiritual development is an important part of helping everyone to thrive.
Just as children grow physically, intellectually, socially and emotionally, we believe that their spirit can also grow.
Worship provides regular opportunities to nurture this spiritual growth through wonder, stillness, questioning, reflection, prayer, relationships, gratitude and connection.
We use our spiritual development ladder to support children in exploring age-appropriate questions about:
Self
Who am I? What makes me special? What are my hopes, dreams and values? How can I grow?
Others
How should we treat one another? What does it mean to belong? How can our relationships help us to thrive?
The world
What can we learn from the world around us? What fills us with awe and wonder? How can we care for creation?
Beyond
What might we believe about God, faith, meaning, purpose and things we cannot always see or explain?
Children are encouraged to wonder, question, reflect and respond, rather than being expected simply to provide a 'right' answer.
We recognise that spiritual development is personal. Our school community includes people with different beliefs and worldviews. Our worship is distinctively Christian, rooted in Jesus Christ and the Bible, while providing an inclusive and respectful space in which everyone can participate and reflect.
Children as active participants in worship
We believe children should be active participants in worship, not simply passive listeners.
Children contribute through reading, prayer, music, drama, questioning, reflection and leading parts of worship. They are encouraged to listen to one another, express their own thoughts and experiences and respond thoughtfully to the ideas of others.
Our class worship is particularly important in giving children the space and confidence to share their own questions and reflections.
Our worship provides a safe space for children to wonder about some of life's big questions and to develop their understanding of faith, meaning, purpose and themselves.
We want children to develop the confidence to ask questions for which there may not always be simple answers.
Worship in Church at special times of year
As a Church of England school, our relationship with our local church is an important part of our worshipping life.
At significant times of the Christian year, we gather in church to mark and celebrate together. These include Harvest, Christmas and Easter, as well as other special occasions throughout the year.
We also come together for occasions such as our Shoebox Appeal, Pentecost and Leavers' Service.
These experiences enable children to understand that worship is not confined to the school hall. They help us to experience ourselves as part of a wider Christian community, connecting our school life with the life of the church and the seasons of the Christian year.
Worship beyond the hall
Our worship does not finish when we leave the hall.
The themes, questions and values explored in worship are revisited throughout the school week, across the curriculum and in the wider life of our school.
We encourage children to recognise opportunities to put their learning into action in the classroom, playground, home and wider community.
Our Value Vouchers provide a further connection between worship, school life and home. When children demonstrate one of our Christian values, their achievement can be celebrated through a Value Voucher which they take home to share with their family.
In this way, our Christian values become part of everyday life.
We want the language of love, respect, courage, trust, forgiveness, perseverance and friendship to shape the way we live together and enable everyone to thrive.
Worship for everyone
Collective worship is for the whole school community.
We want worship to be a time when children and adults encounter, reflect, learn and grow together.
Our adults are encouraged to reflect not only on what worship might mean for the children, but also on what it might mean for their own lives, relationships, faith and sense of purpose, both within our school community and beyond.
We believe that spiritual growth does not stop when we become adults. We are all continually learning, questioning and growing.
Therefore, worship provides opportunities for adults as well as children to nurture their spirit, encounter God, reflect on their lives and consider how they might live out our Christian values more fully.
In this way, collective worship contributes to the spiritual flourishing of our whole school community.
Everyone to Thrive
Ultimately, our worship seeks to help us become the community we aspire to be.
A community where everyone is valued, everyone belongs, everyone has opportunities to grow, and everyone is encouraged to thrive.
Rooted in the words of Jesus in John 10:10, we seek to nurture the whole person - mind, body, relationships and spirit - so that everyone may experience life in all its fullness.
And rooted in 1 Corinthians 13, we seek to become a community where love is patient, kind, enduring and lived out in the way we treat one another.
Through worship, we make time to stop, listen, wonder, question, pray and reflect.
We encounter the love of God and explore what it means to show that love to others.
We learn from Jesus and from one another.
We reflect on who we are and who we might become.
And we are encouraged to take what we have encountered into our everyday lives.
Our hope is that through worship, and through the life of our school community, everyone will have the opportunity to grow, spiritually flourish and thrive - together, in love.